Shares advanced on the two local exchanges on Tuesday morning, driven by property developers and agriculture-forestry companies.

The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange rose 0.6 per cent to close at 714.81 points, setting up a fresh nine-year high. The southern market index gained 0.4 per cent on Monday.

The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange inched up 0.1 per cent to end at 86.61 points. It increased by 0.8 per cent in the previous session.

Property and agriculture-forestry stocks continued to be the main drivers on Tuesday morning after they pushed the stock market up during Monday's session.

Among listed real-estate companies, Vingroup (VIC) added 2.1 per cent, Novaland Investment Group (NVL) moved up 2.7 per cent and FLC Group (FLC) advanced 2.3 per cent.

The agriculture-forestry sector was lifted by Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (HAG) and its sub-unit Hoang Anh Gia Lai Agriculture International (HNG), which rose 6.1 per cent and 2.2 per cent, respectively.

Hoang Anh Gia Lai earlier announced the parent company will convert its 20 million shares in the capital of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Agriculture International into bonds worth VND200 billion (US$8.89 million.

The bond conversion will be done in March 2017, and it will reduce Hoang Anh Gia Lai’s ownership in its agriculture arm from 70.45 per cent to 67.84 per cent.

Meanwhile, more than 148.6 million shares were traded on Tuesday morning, worth VND2.68 trillion. — VNS